Obama Proclaims Three National Days of Prayer and Remembrance for 9/11

President Barack Obama, accompanied by his wife, first lady Michelle and Vice President Joe Biden, greet supporters upon their arrival at Pease Air National Guard Base in Portsmouth, N.H., Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

(CNSNews.com) - President Obama on Friday didn’t just declare one National Day of Prayer and Remembrance in honor of 9/11 – he proclaimed three.

In a presidential proclamation from the White House, Obama called on Americans to spend Friday through Sunday, Sept. 7-9 in “prayer, contemplation, memorial services, the visiting of memorials, the ringing in of bells, evening candlelight remembrance vigils and other appropriate ceremonies and activities” to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

“On September 11, 2001, in our hour of grief, a Nation came together. No matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family,” Obama said in the proclamation.

“This weekend, as we honor the memory of those we have lost, let us summon that spirit once more. Let us renew our sense of common purpose. And let us reaffirm the bond we share as a people: that out of many, we are one.”

The proclamation also pays tribute to the 2 million American service members who have gone to war in the decade-plus since the attacks occurred.

Ironically, the president’s proclamation capped a week which saw mention of God and religious topics come to the fore at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Three times Democratic delegates shouted “No!” on an amendment Wednesday to insert “God” back into the text of the party platform and to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

On Tuesday, Democratic delegates had voted to drop any reference to God in the 2012 party platform.

In 2008, Democrats had expressed their support for everyone having “the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.” Until it was re-inserted by amendment on Wednesday, the phrase in the 2012 platform had been re-written to read: “each one of us should be able to go as far as our talent and drive take us.”